Newswire September 2018

By
Mercia Group

29 September 2018 00:00

The government will publish the final Budget before Brexit on Monday 29 October. The Budget date is earlier than usual, in a bid to avoid final Brexit negotiations and a special European Council meeting, scheduled for November. A Monday Budget also breaks the usual tradition of Wednesdays, perhaps the Chancellor is trying to avoid Halloween or just trying to keep us on our toes?

Meanwhile, as more and more firms look at ways to work with their clients in a cloud environment, we are pleased to announce that our Solicitors Accounts Rules audit methodology is now also available through the cloud-based CaseWare Smart Engagement platform. For more on this, and other audit and accountancy news this month, see the A&A news section below.

Latest tax and accounting products

Director's Loan Repayments

An informative download that looks at the tax rules surrounding the repayment of directors' loans.

Upcoming conferences

AUDIT & ACCOUNTING

The quality of charity accounts

Earlier this month the Charity Commission for England and Wales (CCEW) published the outcomes of one of its regular reviews of charities' accounts. Somewhat worryingly CCEW noted that, as in the previous two years, a quarter of charities failed to provide even basic information and 'fell well short of the standard the public has the right to expect'. Deficiencies ranged from missing narrative and pages through to accounts which did not balance.

We are delighted to announce the launch of the Mercia Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) Assignment Template on the new cloud-based CaseWare Smart Engagement platform.

This new template offers all the benefits of using cloud software alongside exciting collaborative features allowing you to request and manage client information through one secure system and raise issues and queries directly with your clients.

More information on this, the first of Mercia's CaseWare Smart Engagement templates, can be found here.

If you are a subscriber to our existing range of manuals and are interested in finding out more about using Mercia methodology through the CaseWare, CCH or MyWorkpapers paperless systems please visit our website here or contact Andrew Paul on 0116 258 1200.

Technical manuals news

We have issued an update to our Clubs Specialist Assignment Manual. This update principally reflects recent changes to Auditing Standards and legislation, including updated consolidated guidance on audit opt-out for clubs registered under The Co-operative and Community Benefit Societies Act.

If you are a subscriber and have any administrative questions about this update, please email Karina Johnston or call us on 0116 258 1200.

TAXATION

Class 2 NIC will remain

According to press reports, the abolition of Class 2 NIC in April 2019 has been scrapped. To read more, please click here.

Software suppliers supporting Making Tax Digital for VAT

HMRC have updated the list of software suppliers which HMRC is working with to produce suitable Making Tax Digital for VAT software for businesses and their agents. To read more, please click here.

Genuine HMRC contact and recognising phishing emails and texts

HMRC have updated their guidance on how to recognise when contact from HMRC is genuine and how to recognise phishing or bogus emails and text messages. To read more, please click here.

OFFICE GOSSIP & IDLE CHAT

Mercia has a new home

We mentioned in last month's edition of Newswire that we recently obtained the keys to our new premises and that we've been renovating the property over the past few months.

This week we have seen the signs have been fitted and the final touches are being made to the interior. The team have been eagerly awaiting confirmation of an official move date and we are delighted to inform you that our first day in our new office will be Monday 8th October.

A fond farewell to Belinda Auchimowicz

This month we say a fond farewell to our colleague Belinda Auchimowicz, who retires at the end of the month.

Belinda joined us back in October 2001 and if you are a subscriber to one or more of our technical manuals, you will no doubt recognise her name from the numerous updates that she has published for us over the years! We wish Belinda all the very best for the future.

Mercia participates in the World's Biggest Coffee Morning!

On Wednesday 19 September the team took part in our annual 'Mercia Bake Off' in aid of Macmillan Cancer Support.

Nine members of the team spent Tuesday night baking, rather than watching The Great British Bake Off, in preparation for the coffee morning. Consequently, there was a vast array of delicious treats on sale. As you can see from the photos, everything looked utterly mouth-watering (and they tasted delicious too).

Congratulations to Karina Johnston, Ashleigh Cullen and Dale Palmer who made it through to the final, we can't wait to taste their showstoppers!

New website, coming soon...

Not only do we have a new contemporary office space, but we are also developing a website with new and improved features.

The site will launch in the coming weeks and, we cannot wait to share it with you!